nuclear-news

No more nukes: Duke Energy writes new nuclear out of its long-range plan,

Instead, Charlotte-based Duke (NYSE:DUK) will focus on getting license extensions for its existing, almost 11,000-megawatt nuclear fleet. The company will start with the first of the Oconee Nuclear Station’s three, 880-megawatt units, the current license for which expires in 2033. Oconee is near Seneca, South Carolina.

Glen Snider, Duke’s director of resource planning for the Carolinas, says the change is born of a number of developments in the industry. They include last year’s decision by S.C. Electric & Gas to abandon the proposed, $20 billion-plus V.C. Summer nuclear expansion and the expectation that strict limits on carbon emissions are likely to be further off than had once been expected.

Some version

Every year since 2005, Duke had included plans for some version of a new nuclear plant. That year, the Integrated Resource Plan filed by Duke proposed having the plant up and running by 2016.

Even last year, after Duke had announced it dropped plans for the proposed, 2,234-megawatt W.S. Lee Nuclear Station in Gaffney, South Carolina, the long-range plan still had a place for a possible, 1,100-megawatt plan that might start construction in 2032.

This year’s IRP, which projects through 2033, was filed Wednesday and there is no new nuclear construction proposed.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission initially licensed nuclear plants for 40 years. It has already established that qualified plants can get a 20-year extension to total 60 years.

All of Duke’s plants are currently licensed to run for 60 years. The NRC is now considering whether it will allow plants an additional 20-year extension……….https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/09/05/no-more-nukes-duke-energy-writes-new-nuclear-out.html